Week 5

Thanks mom for Jeff's address. Apparently you didn't get my letter that I sent to you after I emailed because I forgot a few things. Will you also send me Lewis' and Chris' addresses?  My mind is so fried. My head hurts all the time.  My feet don't hurt too much - no blisters. Yes, I forgot to drain the water before I added the milk and cheese. Don't laugh at me!  It wasn't funny!  I'm glad its p-day because I almost ran out of food! I had like one hot dog left so I'm super excited for food! Yeah for p-day! 
    That's cool about Porter's call, tell him good luck and that I'm proud of him. And it sounds like Sterling did a good job. I love the picture you sent me, its awesome!   Anyway, people here don't have a super thick accent but everyone says y'all.  They don't really say any other crazy words but there are some people who talk so fast and I'm like - What??????????????????? did you say?  I don't say that but some of them talk really fast. One recent convert, his name is Tomas Karr, he's super cool but I have to concentrate really hard to know what he's saying. The people are great though. So I forgot to tell you that when I got to my apartment it was trashed. It was so gross! Elder Tolman's last companion was a slob, so last p-day that's all we did was clean - it was so gross! Yes, Bardstown is the bourbon capital of the world and it smells like bread all the time.  That's what bourbon smells like. It's kinda like bread but I don't know how to explain it. But yeah, the stores are really cool.  There is a place called My Kentucky Home. It is a really cool old house.  There is a lot of Civil War history in Bardstown, it's really neat. There is a Civil War Museum, but we haven't been to see any of it yet.  Sorry, my mind is gone so if I didn't answer a question just ask it again next week.
   So this week we did a lot of tracting. It was fun. We got 16 new investigators, so this week we should have more lessons to teach. Last week everyone kept standing us up or canceling, so that was frustrating.  The Woodbury's spoke in our sacrament meeting this week. It was really good. They are really cool. We had one investigator at church, his name is Mo.  Kathy was going to come but she was sick. And then we had a fireside at the mission home and if missionaries want to go we have to get a recent convert or investigator to come. We also have to get a ride if the investigator can't drive because we only have a certain amount of miles that we can drive. So Hans Wright, a member, took us. He's really cool. He likes to help us.  Our investigator's  name is Chevell. He's an awesome black guy with dreds. He's super cool. The fireside was great, the spirit was so strong there - it was awesome. This coming Saturday we have a mission wide conference. There will be two apostles there - Elder Cook and Elder L Tom Perry, so that's really cool. I'm excited for that. One of the Elders in the district is the grandson of Elder Perry so that's cool. There is also an Elder Murphy and his dad is Dale Murphy, the baseball player - so that is really cool too. He is one of the assistants to the president so he's super awesome! Well I think that's about it, sorry I don't have more, but if I forgot something, which I probably did, I will send you a letter.  I'm surprised you didn't get my letter I sent yet. That's upsetting. Anyway  I love you. I hope you have a great week. Love TJ. 

Week 4 - Letter from T.J.

Because of the holiday I didn't get to email, but that's ok. It was a great day because we didn't have any appointments, so all we did was knock on doors and talk to people on the street. We probably talked to 30 or so people. Some were interested and some weren't, but we had 6 new investigators and our weekly goal was 7 - so we almost made a weekly goal in one day. That was pretty awesome, but my feet were killing me by the end of the day. So I'm in Bardstown, Kentucky about an hour from Louisville.  My companion is from Brigham City, Utah and he has 3 months left so I'm probably going to be his last companion.  So on Monday we got to the mission home and met the Woodburys.  They are so awesome! And then transfer meeting was Tuesday and we got to the area and I unpacked. Then we did a little tracting, but not much. Then on Wednesday we did a lot of tracting - it was good. We are in a car area, but we had to drive to Louisville on Saturday for a meeting and that took a lot of miles, so we have to be careful now but that's ok. Sunday was good. I got to meet everyone in the branch. It was definitely different because there were like 50 people maybe, so it was small but its a good place. They wanted me to introduce myself and bear my testimony so I did. Bardstown is a smaller big town if that makes sense. They call it a small town but its not, its pretty big. I would say its about the size of Heber, maybe a bit bigger. It's really pretty here. It's awesome! We haven't been fed by members yet.  I tried to make mac and cheese  and I destroyed it. It was the nastiest thing in the world, so no more mac and cheese for me! I make a lot of casadillas, some hot dogs, cereal, basic stuff cuz I can't cook to save my life!  The people here for the most part are really nice. There are some that are rude but for the most part they are nice. It seems like everyone here has a dog -- everyone!  Its ridiculous, and most people have a word of wisdom or law of chastity problem so that's different. Oh, and it smells like beer all the time.  Its awesome - not really. So if you want to send me something or someone wants to write me a letter, tell them to send it to the mission office. I'm not sure what that is but I think you have it. Anyway, the weather is not bad.  It's really cold today, but it has been really good otherwise. It's windy a lot.  That is cool about Gavin getting his mission call. Tell him that I'm proud of him and he's going to have an awesome time on his mission. Could you do me a favor and get Jeff's address and send it to me?  That would be awesome. Well, I think that's it. I love y'all very much.  Have a great week!

Week 4

With it being Presidents day we did not get an e-mail from T.J. yet.  We did get to talk to him last monday on the phone when he was on a layover in Denver.  He sure sounded good.

Week 3

Things are going great! I am loving it!  The learning is getting easier, so that's good. I love my district and teacher so much. They are all so amazing, but I'm ready to leave - only a couple days left.  I'm not sure exactly what time I will call, but I think either in the morning or at noon.  We leave at 4 in the morning from the MTC.  Our flight is at 7.  I got the package, so thanks for that.  Thanks for the shirt, socks, drivers license and other stuff you sent.  We had in-field orientation yesterday, so that was fun. Haha, not really.  It was so long, but it was good. I guess I had an emotional breakdown on Wednesday I think. I wasn't doing really well. I cried for like a half hour and had a really bad headache, but I prayed and the next day was good. I feel lots better now. I think it finally hit me that I won't see you for 2 years, but I know the Lord will protect me.  I have already seen many miracles in the 2 weeks I have been here.  For one, the learning suddenly became much easier for me.  The Lord has blessed me so much and I'm so grateful to be able to serve a mission. I am loving it. It's hard but I wouldn't want to be doing anything else. I love you so much and hope you have a good week.  Love you. If I didn't answer some of your questions, send them in a letter because I have more time to read them. My computer time is short. Anyway, love you. Take care!

Week 2

I am so glad that it is finally p- day! I can't even tell you how happy I am. Things are going good, I love my roommates, they are great. It has felt like I have been here like a month. It feels really long, but that's ok. I'm glad things are going well for you. I got mom's package, thanks for my patriarchal blessing. I am glad I have it even though I didn't have it in time for the lesson, but that's fine. I didn't think you could get it to me anyway since it was really short notice.  I love the pictures you sent. Did Bailee get my letter yet?  I hope so.  Tell anyone who wants to write me a letter that I would love to hear from them.  I love getting letters, it makes my day so much better. Thanks for the sim card,  I will send my sim card home when its full.  I got to go to the temple today for p-day, then we get to do laundry after lunch.  Thanks for setting up my blog. It sounds good. I am doing well, it's a lot different than I could have expected, but it's good. Well I love you guys so much!  I hope you all have a great week!